Alive
by BeneaththeWords
Summary: Sometimes running away isn't always a bad idea, especially when it's with your best friend.


**Another oneshot I wrote between my gtav oc (sage) and my friend katie's oc (aubrey) involving spontaneity and road trips.**

* * *

It was half past noon on a Sunday when Aubrey Parker came bounding into apartment 27 of Little Seoul as if it were her own. Her hair was up in a messy bun, the half of it falling around her cheeks and down her neck in wavy strands, while her rosy eyeshadow contrasted with her bronzed complexion. Her bare shoulders bore the weight of a worn out backpack, the fabric's green pigment fading around the edges and the left strap nearly breaking at the seam. With the intent of making her arrival known, she kicked the door closed behind her with a resounding thud.

Sage was passed out on the couch with her left cheek pressing into the cushions and her right arm dangling over a crime novel left open on the floor. Her dark tresses fanned halfway over her eyes and her ear was starting to ache where her piercings were being crushed by the weight of her head. Aubrey's abrupt entrance jolted her from her sleep and she sat up in a startled daze of confusion.

"Oh, that's where you are." Aubrey said from behind her.

"Shit, what time is it?" Sage mumbled to herself, trying to shake the fog from her mind.

"One, maybe?" Aubrey answered, giving a halfhearted shrug.

Sage brought a hand to her forehead, trying to rub away the pounding sensation that was behind her eyes.

"You been sleeping all day?" Aubrey rose an eyebrow.

"I think I had too much to drink last night." Sage groaned. "Alex asked me to meet up with her and Lester to finalize some details for the art deal and I think I might've overestimated my ability to drink more than five shots of tequila.

"Wait a minute, you went out for shots without _me_?" Aubrey looked genuinely offended.

"I didn't go there to drink, I went to get filled in on this heist," Sage reasoned. "Besides, you think our meetings are boring."

"Not when there's alcohol involved."

Sage snorted. "Yeah, well, consider yourself lucky. I feel like I just died and somebody woke me from my grave." She gave Aubrey a pointed look.

"You sure look it, too." Aubrey cackled.

"Gee, thanks." Sage knew she looked rough as her hair stuck to her face and her eyeliner was smeared across her eyelids.

"Well, go get cleaned up." Aubrey demanded. "We have places to go."

Sage was stretching her arms over her head and failing to suppress a yawn. "What places?"

"Places very far from here."

* * *

A shower and two doses of tylenol later, Sage stood in her bedroom with a duffel bag open on her bed. What lay inside were only the necessities of an overnight stay as Aubrey had been anything but descriptive about where they were going. Sage would typically assume it were a quick mission out in Grapeseed or even that Aubrey was lonely and wanted her to visit in Sandy Shores, but Aubrey's vagueness told her it was something else entirely.

"Hurry up!" Aubrey called from the living room.

She sat criss-crossed on the couch, flipping through channel after channel of sitcoms that only played on Sunday afternoons. It was a telltale sign of her boredom and she was growing antsier by the minute. She checked her phone often, the action so repeated in the past hour that it was starting to actually drain her battery some. It was for naught, however, and her blank lockscreen had continued to show no sign of contact.

Sage appeared in the doorway at that moment, adorning black skinny jeans and her favorite leather jacket. Her hair hung damp above her shoulders and her eye makeup was now freshly applied.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going, now?" She asked.

Aubrey stood up, excitement bubbling in her. "Wherever we want."

Sage cocked her head.

"I was thinking east, maybe into Arizona?" Aubrey said this as if it were as easy as going to down the street to the Burger Shot. Maybe to her it was.

"So, this isn't for work, after all?"

"Christ, no," Aubrey scoffed. "This is to get away from it."

"But what about the heist? Our _job_?" Sage crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the doorframe.

"What about it?" She asked, leaning to pick up her backpack from the floor. "It's just a road trip, Sage. We're not running away forever."

Sage rolled her eyes, hanging her head back to face the ceiling. She wanted to pick up everything and leave just as much as the next person, and running away wasn't completely uncharacteristic of her, but she still felt iffy about the prospect. Especially now when she was tied down to things, like her job and the people that came with it.

"This just doesn't seem like good timing, Aubs." She let her duffel bag slide off of her shoulder and hit the floor with a thump, as if that marked some finality in her decision.

"And when is, Sage? After we're dead?" Aubrey's irritation had turned into sincere exasperation at that point. "This heist is our biggest one yet- we don't need to rush into it."

It wasn't often put into words, but with each mission of theirs, all the risks were still present. They always threw precaution to the wind, especially the two of them, if it meant getting the job done. That kind of determination came with unfavorable odds and it could only be chalked up to luck that they were somehow still defying them. They had both seen their fair share of casualties and it wasn't out of the question that they would one day be one of them. They knew entirely what they were signing up for when they got into the kind of the business they did, but that didn't mean it didn't scare the shit out of them.

"The gallery is two months away. We can afford to disappear for a week." Aubrey was trying her best to sound earnest.

"I have two meetings with Michael this week, one of which is tomorrow morning. I have plans with Alex on Wednesday to scope the building out. God knows what sort of people Lester is going to want me to contact..." Sage trailed off, biting her lip. "Look, right now is not the time for me to disappear again."

Aubrey's ears seemed to perk at Sage's indication of past desertions, but if any suspicions arose within her, they were left unaddressed.

"For fucks sake, Sage, this is exactly why you need to do this. Aren't you sick of constantly being at their beck and call? When was the last time you did something on your own terms. Without their _permission_?"

It wasn't uncommon for them to disagree on things, but it hardly broke out into arguments like this. "I don't need their 'permission' to do anything."

"Then pick up your bag and let's fucking go." Aubrey's voice was sharp and unwavering and it took all Sage could muster not to say "yes".

Aubrey let out a cold laugh and turned towards the door. "Fine, Sage. Enjoy driving yourself up a wall."

Aubrey left without another word, the door slamming behind her with more power than it had that morning. Sage could only deflate against the wall, bringing her fist back against it, because Aubrey was right: She always let people tie her down.

* * *

An hour later, Aubrey's phone lit up on the passenger seat of Regina, the word "Asshole" indicating an incoming call from Sage. She hesitated, but reached her right arm over to grab it before it stopped ringing.

"What?" Aubrey answered. At this point, her anger had left her and the only thing that remained was disappointment. She knew she was going off the grid for a few days whether Sage was with her or not, but having her there would make it suck considerably less.

There was a long pause on the other end and Aubrey almost thought that maybe Sage had called her by accident, but then she spoke.

"Are you still in town?"

"I'm about to be on my way out."

"Do you think you could swing back around? I don't think this place will need me for a few days."

Aubrey couldn't contain the grin that broke out onto her face.

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

That's how they ended up somewhere on Interstate 10, headed east 4 hours outside of Los Santos with a long night ahead of them. Aubrey was sprawled across the backseat of Regina, holding a paper map above her as if she could read it. Sage had taken her turn at the wheel with all four windows rolled halfway down and the radio playing an old Beatles song. The setting sun basked the crimson canyons in a sliver of light so breathtaking that Sage nearly stopped the car to stare at them. It was over within a minute, however, and as the sun disappeared behind the expanse of mountains, the sky turned to a pastel purple almost instantly.

It was moments like these where Sage was comforted by just how small she was in comparison to the grand scheme of things. The desert they had been driving through seemed endless and the sheer expanse of the rocks and dirt made her feel like a speck among millions. The highway seemed to open right into the sky and Sage was convinced that if she drove far enough she could reach it. She had spent her entire life feeling as though she owed this world something from the moment she was born, but she was slowly starting to realize that it was enough to just live the life she was granted without having to always prove herself. Aubrey had helped with that a lot.

Suddenly, Aubrey sat up, startling Sage from her reveries. She leaned forward onto her knees, staring out past the window and to the view to their right.

"Stop there." She pointed her arm out of the gap in the window as they were steadily approaching a small strip of stores. There were but a few convenience shops and gas stations, the other half a rundown motel and bar so tiny one might miss it.

"I hope that bar has fried pickles." Sage muttered, turning the car onto the the small exit road that would lead them to it.

"You hope every bar does." Aubrey rolled her eyes.

The bar did not, in fact, sell fried pickles. But it had good beer and hot peanuts and it was one of those bars where you could throw the shells onto the floor if you wanted to. Aubrey was delighted by the jukebox and Sage enjoyed a round of pool with a group of bikers that weren't as tough as they looked. By the time it was 11 o'clock, the two girls had grown fond of a wanderer by the name of Jordan and his girlfriend Elsie. They'd been traveling for longer than Sage had been alive and the few stories they shared over drinks made her never want to go back to Los Santos.

Aubrey was a little past the point of tipsy, swaying slightly on her stool and laughing at every other thing someone had to say even if it weren't all that funny. Sage knew they'd eventually need to get back on the road and find somewhere to sleep for a few hours, but the reluctance both of the girls had to move was more than transparent. They were overdue on a farewell to both Jordan and Elsie, but before either one of them could act upon it, their newfound friends made the move first.

"Do you want to see something really cool?" Jordan had a brilliant smile on his face and the two of them shared a knowing look. The girls could do all but decline.

The couple lead Sage and Aubrey out of the bar and into the dry night, pointing towards a golf car parked on the side of the road.

"Are you sure we're not still in Sandy Shores?" Aubrey bumped her shoulder against Sage's as they trailed behind.

"You two didn't happen to pack your swimsuits, did you?" Elsie asked once they were all piled into the cart.

"They won't need them." Jordan answered for them as he took off into the dirt towards a row of canyons.

They had only been driving for 15 minutes, but to them it felt like an hour. The headlights on the golf cart only illuminated a few feet in front of them, leaving the half moon to do the rest, and no matter how far they drove, Sage couldn't tell if they were getting any closer to the rocks. Aubrey had taken her hair down from its spot on top of her head and let the wind untangle it for her. Sage could only smile, wondering how she was this close to not being here.

Eventually they did reach the edge of the rocks and the ghost town they'd left behind was only a small strip of light in the distance. The utter immensity of the boulders in front of them were enough to make them uneasy, but Jordan and Elsie couldn't stop grinning the entire time. It was people like them that Aubrey knew were destined to be doing what they were and she could feel just how easy their spontaneity was channeling into her.

In between every few rocks lay a thin gorge, just big enough for a person to fit. The floor of the canyon showed signs of water that was once there, but it was long dried out by the aridity of the desert. Jordan went first and Elsie directed Sage and Aubrey in after him.

"It's going to be a bit of a hike, but it shouldn't be too far."

"This is where they kill us." Sage whispered to Aubrey in front of her. Her voice only held half humor at the very real possibility that these strangers were only wearing friendly facades.

"Not the way I planned to go, but I can roll with it."

Sage gave her a look.

Jordan was right about the hike, and despite how fit both Aubrey and Sage were, it left the two of them a bit winded when they finally neared their destination. Sage was surprised to see several trees growing along the small trail they had made, however sparse they were, but they were still no match to the scale of the boulders they were navigating through. As they were approaching the end of the narrow path, the rocks appeared to close off at the end with only a small space to crawl through at the bottom. Jordan went first, and after a little bit of a struggle squeezing through, gave a loud cry of victory into the night; He'd clearly found what he was looking for.

Sage didn't know what to expect beyond the small tunnel she was pulling herself through, but it never crossed her mind that they would find a pool of water on the other side. It was only about the size of a hot tub and the cave walls encircled it entirely, but it seemed to be deep enough to dive into. The water appeared to be clear, but she could only see the reflection of the moon and stars in it rather than the bottom.

"Wow." Aubrey breathed from behind her and Elsie was not long to follow.

"We found a good one, babe."

"How did you know this was here?" Aubrey asked, walking along the edge of the water.

Jordan was already stripping down to his boxers. "We didn't." He stated simply.

Sage looked to Elsie, who was kicking off her shoes and unbuttoning her shorts. "We've come across swimming holes quite a bit on our hikes. You just gotta do a bit of looking." She explained.

Sage and Aubrey shared a brief look before Aubrey gave a shrug and started peeling away her tank top and shorts as well. Sage did the same, tossing her jacket over a dead branch sticking in between a gap in the walls and kicking her boots off ungracefully. Jordan was the first to plunge in, breaking the perfect stillness of the pool first. Elsie sat down on the edge, dipping her legs into the water briefly before pushing herself off of the ledge entirely.

"The water's nice, girls." Jordan informed when he emerged from the darkness, an obvious invitation for them to join him.

Sage stepped forward, making to put her foot in the water to feel the temperature, but she was suddenly hit with a face full of it as Aubrey shoved her in without hesitation. She jumped in after her almost immediately, relieved to find that it wasn't at all as freezing at it looked.

They all fell back into the same comfortable conversation they had at the bar as they floated around, Elsie as animated as ever as she told stories of their time camping in the dead of winter in Alaska. Jordan assured them that the northern lights were well worth the risk of getting frostbite.

Eventually Jordan and Elsie climbed out of the water and laid down across the small space between the rocks and the pool's edge, holding hands and falling into a content silence. Aubrey and Sage stayed in, floating on their backs and staring up at the sky above them through the hole the cave's wall created. Sage didn't often see this many stars, the city lights drowning out most of her visibility where she lived, but her visits to Sandy Shores often reminded her of what she was missing out on.

"What time do you think it is?" She asked, barely loud enough for even Aubrey to hear right next to her.

"Past midnight, at least." Aubrey figured.

"Michael's going to kill me." Sage mumbled to herself, but if there was any real anxiety in her statement, Aubrey was deaf to it.

* * *

They were back on the road 6 hours later, just in time to see the sunrise shed some light on the early morning. Aubrey was driving and Sage was slipping in and out of sleep in the passenger seat as they carried down the infinite expanse of I10. Aubrey's phone hadn't lit up once since they'd fled Los Santos, but by the time it reached 8, Sage's phone was blowing up with calls from Michael.

"Are you gonna answer it?" Aubrey asked when she saw Sage wake up to the loud buzzing.

Sage contemplated it for a moment, almost reaching her hand towards the cupholder where her phone lay before deciding to just let it ring.

"I'll text him back in an hour, tell him I'm too hungover to meet up with him. He'll get over it."

Aubrey smiled slightly in response.

"Have you heard anything from _Trevor_?"

Aubrey's smile dropped the second Sage said his name. "Nope."

"Does he even know where you are?"

"He knows I'm coming back and that's good enough for now." Aubrey's tone was curt and she didn't make any mark that she was going to say anything more on the subject.

Sage decided to leave it at that.

* * *

"Pass me the sugar, will ya?"

"These eggs taste like shit."

"This coffee sure don't."

"Jesus, Sage, how much of that are you going to put on those?"

Sage was drowning her pancakes in syrup and Aubrey was using eyefind maps to try and figure out where the hell they were going next. At least they'd accomplished breakfast.

* * *

"Did it hurt?" Aubrey asked, leaning over the counter just behind where Sage was getting her tattoo done.

"Hardly." She answered, examining the small crescent moon that would forever be engraved into the side of her wrist.

"You're up next, blondie." The artist said after wrapping Sage's arm up in plastic.

Aubrey was getting a small sun in the same place that Sage had her moon. Sage wasn't necessarily into matching tattoos, but when her and Aubrey drove by one of the shops in the exit they'd taken for lunch, they couldn't resist. It was fitting, in a way, and Sage hoped it would be a constant reminder that there were more things out there for her than just Los Santos, even if she had become incredibly fond of the glamorized city.

When Aubrey was finished and held her wrist up to Sage's, she knew this tattoo wouldn't be one of the ones she'd regret when she's older.

* * *

It was past midnight and Sage was almost in a deep sleep in their motel room when she heard Aubrey leave her bed and head towards the door. She was tempted to just let herself drift off, but thought better of it and rolled herself out of her sheets and onto the dirty carpet.

Aubrey was just outside their room, barefooted and in nothing but an oversized shirt to sleep in, leaning against the metal railing of the second floor hallway. Her phone was held up to her right ear and she was talking in quick, hushed tones. Sage couldn't make out most of what she was saying, but she could tell Aubrey wasn't happy with whoever she was speaking to.

"Fuck you." Was the last thing Sage could hear her say before Aubrey brought the phone away from her ear.

"Everything okay?" Sage asked quietly, doing her best not to startle the woman in question.

It was for naught and Aubrey spun around quickly, bringing her hand to grip her beating chest. "Oh my god."

Sage gave her a half smile. "Sorry."

Aubrey turned back around and Sage stepped forward to lean her arms over the railing as well.

"Was that Trevor?"

"How'd you know?" Aubrey gave Sage a scrutinizing look.

"He's the only one that can rile you up like that." Sage said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Aubrey just sighed in response, looking down to the concrete below them. Their view was nothing pleasant, just a near empty parking lot filled with tumbleweed and abandoned shopping carts.

"That man drives me crazy, Sage. Half the time I can't stand to be in the same room as him for longer than ten minutes, but when I'm away from him I find myself wishing I wasn't." Aubrey was shaking her head to herself. "I know you don't know what I see in him but…"

"Hey, don't write me off just yet," Sage defended. "I might think that Trevor is, well- He's Trevor, but I know that you wouldn't be feeling this way if you didn't see something good in him." Sage gave a snort. "He's actually starting to grow on me, if you could believe that."

Aubrey gave her a small smile.

"This was a good idea, y'know. I think maybe we both needed this."

"What did I say, Sage, you know I'm always right."

"Yeah, don't get too full of yourself."

* * *

"Are you sure it's around here?" Sage asked, feeling as though they'd been driving down the same side road for longer than fifteen miles.

"That's what this map says," Aubrey's eyes were glued to her phone in the passenger seat. "It should be coming up on our right, past this gas station."

Sure enough, just past the Xero station was the little black building they were looking for. The exterior looked pretty modern for its surroundings and a group of hipsters were standing around the entrance smoking cigarettes and drinking beers. Aubrey was searching for clubs they could go to the night prior and ended up finding one called the "Rabbit's Hole". An indie band neither of the two had ever heard of were set to play at 8 and they both figured if they could make it there in time, they'd go.

Admission was only $15 dollars and the inside of the place was more or less one large room with a bar and single bathroom. Aubrey and Sage took a seat, taking in the blue neon lights that ran along each wall. They both ordered mojitos and a plate of guacamole and by the time the band started to play their moods had lifted.

They sounded a lot better than they looked, all tacky clothes and bright colors, and Aubrey couldn't tell if it were part of the gig or if it were their actual ideal senses of fashion. Either way, the two of them eventually made their way to the floor to dance with all the other lost souls who had nothing better to do on a Wednesday night.

After the show had ended and the bar eventually started clearing people out for the night, Sage and Aubrey wandered across the street towards a gift shop, as drunk as ever. There they tried on silly hats and cheap looking jewelry and continued to pretend they didn't have any responsibilities to go back home to. Aubrey's white sundress was wrinkled from sitting so long in the car and Sage's hair was starting to refuse to stay tight in its small ponytail. Their cheeks were tinged pink and their giggles were so loud that strangers kept giving them looks, but they didn't seem to notice or even care.

At one point, Aubrey brushed too close to a shelf holding snowglobes and managed to knock over not one, not two, but three of the cliche souvenirs where they met their fate on the hard tile. The store workers were less than pleased by the mess and loss of merchandise, but instead of paying for the damage, Aubrey booked it out of the door with Sage right on her heels. The manager of the store took off after them, screaming at them to get back there or he would call the police. The girls just ran as fast as their wobbly legs could carry them towards Regina, and as they made it inside and sped off down the road, they didn't think they would ever stop laughing.

Sage knew that she'd get an ear full from Michael when they returned, and that Alex might even be a bit offended that they didn't invite her, and that Lester would claim that their sudden disappearance put the entire mission in jeopardy, but all Sage could care about in that moment was the pumping of her veins and the smile on her face and the absolute utter feeling of being _alive._

It was all thanks to Aubrey.


End file.
